Friday, May 18, 2018

The Security Geese and the Line in the Water

Winter flipped the coin into “Sprunger” last week, that is to say our daytime temperatures went from 5-7 degrees C (41-45 F) to 25-28 C (77-82 F), the barren and dead-looking trees in the courtyard burst into clouds of pink and white blossoms and the flower beds thrust bright spikes of narcissus, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips from the brown earth into the sunshine. Hostas unrolled their leaves and fanned them out like green umbrellas.

Calgary doesn’t have “Spring”. We go from Winter to Summer in a single bound, then, like those times you leave home with the nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten something, and it turns out to be the baby, dressed in his snowsuit, and cinched in his carseat, Calgary goes back and gives us three days of 5 degrees C (41 F), and a cold drizzle, or it snows 53 cm (21 inches) on the 21st of May. Just because we didn’t get a “proper” Spring, or because the weather gods here are sadistic. I’ve lived here 45 years. Nothing surprises me any more. But back to the lovely weather last week.

While all this magic was happening in the garden, we were doing our own thing. After a week-long paralytic episode, during which I should have gone to the ER, and didn’t, I developed phlebitis in my left leg. This was a sharp and painful lesson that despite my aversion to Emergency Rooms, I do still need to go and suffer the never-ending questions, the blood-gas draws (which are very painful), the potassium IVs, the beeping monitors and being treated as if I was intellectually challenged and know absolutely nothing about my own disease while some Intern, who has never heard of it, goes to look up a single article, probably one riddled with errors, and comes back “knowing everything”.

But having put all that behind me, on Mother’s Day Ian and I went out for lunch and then, with me in Tony’s wheelchair, we went to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. I got to see far more than I’ve seen in ages because I’ve not been able to walk farther than the 1st bench for a long time. We went down river and watched the Canada geese squabble over “their” staked-out stretches of the river. These territorial boundaries, though invisible to us, are obviously very clear to them.

One pair was grazing on the bank of the river above us. Down in the river another pair was leisurely paddling around, apparently minding their own business. Suddenly the female of the grazing pair stood up, gave an eardrum-rending screech and assuming a threatening posture, began running down the bank towards the water, presumably squawking, “Your goose is cooked!”. The male reluctantly followed. The two of them chased down, beat and pecked the “intruders” until they had retreated well upriver, and across the invisible border.

We moved upriver to another bench, where we sat and enjoyed the sun and watched the merganser ducks, chickadees and other birds who were coming and going. At one point I looked up and about 30 meters (100 ft) away a couple of very plump coyotes in beautiful condition were trotting past. They were in such good condition they looked as if they’d just come from the dog groomers. But then Calgary is overrun by rabbits. A woman farther down the path, much closer to them, simply stopped and waited for them to pass. As she walked by she said, “I thought they were dogs at first, they were in such good condition!”

As we turned to go a garter snake, about .76 meter (30 inches) long slid from the grass onto the path in front of us. It was in fine condition, plumb and sleek. It crossed the path at a leisurely pace to begin with, but when Ian started getting close to try and get a photo it put on some speed. In contrast to the garter snakes in the den on our property in BC this one was not dark green and yellow but two tones of brown. It was a lovely snake and seeing it capped off a beautiful walk on a lovely afternoon.

Oh garter snakes...living in the forest we go through outdoor mats frequently...one such mat had some sort of scroll-y design that was starting to wear off/down and a garter curled up on the mat. I remember thinking maybe that mat is not as rough worn after all... and with that the garter started to move and reveal it was indeed time to buy a new mat.

Patti, we lived in the Ozarks so know the weather there well. I thought when I moved to Canada, "Well, it may be cold but at least I won't have to worry about tornadoes!" Guess what? Alberta has, on average, 200 tornadoes a year. Hiss-boo. And *nobody* has the good sense to have a fraidy-hole! But all the houses here have basements, so everyone just heads for the basement or root cellar.

SMM, when we lived outside of Phoenix (yeah we moved around a fair bit) our house was L-shaped and faced south-east. The "porch" was a slab of cement about 12 feet square (more or less 3.5 metres). In the winter it would absorb heat all day long, and at night the rattlers would crawl up on it for warmth. So before we opened the door in the morning we'd look out the LR window to see how many rattlesnakes there were on the porch. Our neighbour worked at the Herptology Lab at the University, we'd call him, he'd come and catch them. They milked them for their venom, to make anti-venom. Our porch was a gold-mine for him.

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“Those of us who are warm and dry and safe and well-fed must show up for those who are cold and wet and endangered and hungry. That's a rule of life. Every ethical and religious and spiritual tradition in world agrees on that rule.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

There is a misconception that Buddhism is a religion and that you worship Buddha. Buddhism is a practice, like yoga. You can be a Christian and practice Buddhism. I met a Catholic priest who lives in a Buddhist monastery in France. He told me that Buddhism makes him a better Christian. I love that. ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

If you're scientifically literate the world looks very different to you and that understanding empowers you ~ Neil deGrasse Tyson

The mind is everything. What you think you become. ~ The Buddha

TRAIN IN THE THREE DIFFICULT PRACTICES:The three difficult practices) are:

1. to recognize your neurosis as neurosis,

2. then not to do the habitual thing, but to do something different to interrupt the neurotic habit, and

3. to make this practice a way of life. ~ Pema Chodron

I am of the nature to grow old.

There is no way to escape growing old. I am of the nature to have ill health.

There is no way to escape ill health. I am of the nature to die.

There is no way to escape death. All that is dear to me and everyone I love

Are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.~ The Plum Village Chanting, by Thích Nhất Hạnh

Everything will be all right in the end.

If it is not yet all right, it is not yet the end. ~ Indian Proverb

"We do not have to create a world where differences are resolved by war. It is not our destiny to live in a world of destruction, tedium, and tragedy. We will create a world of peace." ~ James Moore

Self discipline is remembering what you really want. ~ Anon

The corner stone of our non-violent revolution will be: Living within our needs. ~ William "Papa" Meloney

About Me

I am trying to wake up, in the Buddhist sense, in other words, to be open and curious, not to recoil from discomfort and challenge but to embrace it and learn what it has to teach me. As Peace Pilgrim said: "Inner peace is not found by staying on the surface of life, or by attempting to escape from life through any means. Inner peace is found by facing life squarely, solving its problems, and delving as far beneath its surface as possible to discover its verities and realities."